2019 Preakness Stakes Dark Horses and Long Shots

When the 144th Preakness Stakes starts a few minutes before 7:00pm Eastern time on Saturday, it will feature one of the most open fields in decades. Why? Because none of the top four finishers from the Kentucky Derby will be taking part, a circumstance that has not happened since 1951. Country House, the shocking winner at Churchill Downs, is out with a virus, and Maximum Security, the initial winner who was ultimately disqualified, is waiting for the Belmont Stakes. Without a possible Triple Crown this year, the favorite, Improbable, was the fifth-place finisher at Churchill Downs. We’ve put together a list of the post positions, entries and sports betting odds, along with our thoughts about several of the horses down the 2019 Preakness Stakes odds list.

2019 Preakness Stakes Dark Horses and Long Shots

#Everfast, welcome to the show! #Preakness144 pic.twitter.com/N8eW3vSuve

— Preakness Stakes (@PreaknessStakes) May 15, 2019

Post Position / Horse                  2019 Preakness Stakes Odds

1. War of Will                                                     4/1
2. Bourbon War                                                  12/1
3. Warrior’s Charge                                            12/1
4. Improbable                                                      5/2
5. Owendale                                                        10/1
6. Market King                                                    30/1
7. Alwaysmining                                                   8/1
8. Signalman                                                       30/1
9. Bodexpress                                                     20/1
10. Everfast*                                                         50/1
11. Laughing Fox                                                  20/1
12. Anothertwistafate                                           6/1
13. Win Win Win                                                  15/1

*late entry — this will be the largest Preakness field since 2011

Everfast

• Jockey: Joel Rosario
• Trainer: Dale Romans

What do we know about this late entry? He comes from Calumet Farm, which delivered Oxbow, who pulled off the major upset six years ago. Everfast’s best race came at the Holy Bull (Grade 2), when he finished second while running at 128/1 odds. Since that race, he has not cracked the top three in three starts.

Owendale

• Jockey: Florent Geroux
• Trainer: Brad Cox

Cox has two horses in the Preakness Stakes, Owendale and Warrior’s Charge. In April, Owendale beat Anothertwistafate by 1 ¾ lengths at the Stonestreet Lexington Stakes in Keeneland, winning at 12.7/1 odds. That raised the eyes of bettors as his last finish had been an eighth-place stiner at the Risen Star Stakes (Grade 2) back in February. He put up a 59.2-second five-furlong workout on May 11, so he could easily be right there at the end.

Signalman

• Jockey: Brian Hernandez Jr
• Trainer: Ken McPeek

Signalman would have qualified for the Kentucky Derby if Win Win Win had not surged past him right at the end of the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. This is the sort of horse that works hard to stay in the pack to the end and then bolts down the stretch — although he didn’t finish the job against Win Win Win. He won a graded stakes at the Kentucky Jockey Club Stakes back in the fall. For him to contend here, he will need to get a salty pace going early so he will be within reach at the end, but the short distance plays in his favor here.

Market King

• Jockey: Jon Court
• Trainer: D. Wayne Lukas

Market King ran the Rebel Stakes second division in March at 48.3/1 odds but ended up rumbling in third. However, he followed that up with an 11th place finish at the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes, 37 ¼ lengths behind Vekoma, the winner. He did win in February (his only win) at Oaklawn. Interestingly, he drew the highest auction price of all of the Preakness contenders, but there’s a reason he is listed at 30/1 on this table.

Win Win Win

• Jockey: Julian Pimentel
• Trainer: Michael Trombetta

Win Win Win drew some positive notice heading into  Churchill Downs, but he finished tenth (ninth after the adjustments from Maximum Security’s disqualification). Before that, though, his worst finish had been third place, and he had three wins in his first six starts. He finished third at the Lambholm South Tampa Bay Derby and second in the Toyota Blue Grass Stakes. Can Win Win Win recover from the poor showing at Churchill Downs? At 15/1, he’s worth the gamble.